Preparation of Nanocrystalline Calcia‐Stabilized Tetragonal Zirconia by High‐Energy Milling of Baddeleyite

Abstract

For the first time, zirconia nanocrystalline powders were derived using baddeleyite as raw material by ultrafine milling. Powders containing 19 vol% of monoclinic phase were produced by milling of baddeleyite with addition of 11 mol% of CaO. Crystallite size of tetragonal and cubic phases in resulting powders is 3–5 nm and about 15 nm in the case of monoclinic phase. Typical agglomerate's size found by scanning electron microscopy ranges from ~0.1 to 10 µm. Sintered ceramics with tetragonal zirconia content of 95 vol% and crystallite size of ~50 nm are produced from the powders.